A Shadow of the Empire
by Mithril Spatula
Summary: There is no way the Kaminoans could have supplied all the weapons and vehicles that the clone troopers used. Now 20 years after the battle of Endor, Luke finds out who did, and tries to save that race from a pretender to the throne of Palpatine
1. Archives

Author's note: this is kind of a weird fic, but I am a rabid fan of Star Wars, so forgive my lack of originality.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Star Wars (except for registered products ^_^) so don't go telling George about this trying to get me in trouble. Also: the name Argoth is not original: it is from the Magic the Gathering series if any of you were wondering. The name is perfect for the race, and I couldn't think of anything else that sounded remotely suitable, so again forgive my lack of originality.  
  
In the Clone Wars, it had always been a mystery as to who supplied the clone troopers. The Kaminoans grew them, but there was no way they could have built the starships and gunships and armor for them, they had no industrial power. 20 years after the battle of Endor, that mystery would be solved.  
  
The Yevathans had already tried once to take over the universe and destroy all other species. They had failed and were now under intense pressure from the Republic. This story begins far from there, as Luke Skywalker visits the rebuilt Jedi archives on Coruscant.  
  
"Maybe there is something here about the Clone Wars that the Empire didn't blow away." Luke thought as he poured over a computer terminal. "Here we go. Clones. Kamino. commerce guilds. corporate alliance. Geonosis. nothing about the clone troops equipment, or my mother. Why did they hide that information?" Luke said aloud.  
  
Luke hadn't noticed Leia enter the room: "hidden. or not known?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Oh I didn't notice you arrive," Luke started. "What were you looking up?"  
  
"Just some information about the N'zoth system. We've noticed another military buildup on the surface and in orbit. Then I'm going to hold a meeting with the senator from Galantos, concerning extra supplies." Leia reported as if to her journal.  
  
"Ok, you can have the supercomputer," Luke said, and got up and left the room. Outside the elevated skywalk had a pleasant breeze blowing across it, a rare occasion considering it's location between the senate building and Cloud City 1, the administrative center of Cloud City.  
  
Luke sat on the balcony and watched the sun set. There were thoughts going through his mind, memories, and the ever present urge to finish his quest in finding out who his mother is. If he were to search also for the information he wished for about the clone troopers, there were several planets he could visit. One of them was an obvious choice: Argoth, home of the Argothians who attracted big business in meeting equipment orders and a haven for smugglers and bounty hunters. There was only one problem: The system was not in the Republic.  
  
Getting there was easy: there was an unregistered hyperlane all the way from N'zoth to Argoth, which should make travel a bit easier. Luke would not need a passport because he was a Jedi. But the Argothians didn't really place Jedi in high regard.  
  
**************************************************** (I love doing that)  
  
A bit about Argoth: A huge Coruscant-like planet far removed from even the most remote of the planets in Wild Space. Not in the Republic, however does have a moon which is used as a galactic garbage dump.  
  
A bit about the Argothians: Humanoid except for one main difference: Yoda length ears. However they don't stick out like Yodas, but go around the back of their head. They are excellent marksmen, have a huge empire with capital starships and starfighters of standardized design. Lacking in the areas of piloting skills however, cannot match skill of Coreillians or Duros or other races. Consider planet building an art form: Argoth has 26 moons, 24 of them artificial. Receive rock matter from mining operations on Kessel and Sullust in exchange for them to dump their garbage free of charge on Argoth 26 (the garbage moon) which is destroyed by an anti-gravity ray every 10 Argothian years (anti-grav pulls it apart, releasing the trash). Each of moons of Argoth has different purpose. 4 of them are devoted entirely to industrial operations, which is why they are most likely the ones who supplied the clone troopers. 


	2. Arrival on Argoth

Author's Note: Here's chapter two folks. For those of you who are tempted, please R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned Star Wars, I would be doing a lot more than writing fanfics about it.  
  
At the shuttle bay, Luke paused. Did he really want to do this? It could be dangerous. The Argothians didn't like Jedi reading their minds and all. He had to. It would solve an age old mystery. The shuttle landed and Luke took off for the orbiting Star Destroyer Vigilance.  
  
On the way, he decided to check the Nava computer for the exact location of Argoth. According to the Jedi Archives it was 18 parsecs off of a certain hyperlane that led straight to Bakura. But that information was out of date, since the route was re-routed after the Ssi-Ruuvi attack.  
  
Sure enough, it had moved, but not even close to the minimal change that Luke had expected. It was nearly 25 parsecs away from the Bakuran hyperlane. The galaxy wasn't spinning THAT fast. There was obviously some larger force at work. The destroyer changed course straight for the new location, as well as rerouting most of the power to the hyperdrive. Even so, it was a long 2 days before they finally came out of hyperspace due to increased space traffic. On the way, they sent several holonet transmissions.  
  
There was a planet in front of them that looked so much like Coruscant that they thought it was the same planet. The ship's captain came up to Luke: "This should be it sir. We count 26 moons, a dead giveaway."  
  
"That's good. Let's get just within' their sensor range and have peaceful flags up." Luke replied. They did just that, and sure enough, there was a suspicious voice over the COM link coming from the orbiting battleships.  
  
"Who goes there? Show yourselves!" They hailed. They must've thought it was an Imperial ship.  
  
"This is the New Republic starship Vigilance. Feel free to scan us as much as you want," the COM officer replied. There was a pause. A long pause.  
  
"You are clear to proceed." The voice said without any expression.  
  
The ship descended through the heavily defended atmosphere of the main planet. Then down through the mammoth star docks, which made the surface invisible. There were all kinds of ships being built there. Orders from anybody were taken here, they just needed plans. There were Mon Cal cruisers, star destroyers, even some very old looking ships that vaguely resembled star destroyers.  
  
Eventually the ship descended into a low altitude capital ship docking bay. Kilometers below them, there were sorry looking factories, which sharply contrasted the glittering spacescrapers that somehow managed to pierce the thick smog. The air was thick with shuttles, industrial transports, and heavy lifters. They were all carrying pieces of metals up to a building project in orbit that was so large, its shadow covered nearly all of the city that Luke could see. This was one of the Gravatic Manipulation Starships (GMS's, used for planetary construction). Luke thought little of it now, but his opinion would soon change.  
  
As the dropship with Luke on it reached the capitol building (halfway across the planet), Luke had an entire essay of questions ready to ask the prime minister. As he landed, a squad of soldiers in storm trooper-like armor approached the shuttle.  
  
"Who gave you permission to come here?" the commander asked.  
  
"The starship COM officer onboard the. I think the battleship Paladin in orbit."  
  
"If you got permission, then we'll let you pass," the commander replied, suspicious of Luke after noticing his lightsaber.  
  
Luke bowed and entered the capitol building. There was a huge marble archway with a fountain in the lobby. There were benches around the fountain with men conversing and eating lunch occupying them. One of the men got up, and approached Luke.  
  
"Are you from the Republic, Or here to place an order?" he asked in an extremely commanding voice, considering he looked like just another businessman.  
  
"I'm the ambassador from the New Republic. I believe you received our Holonet transmission a couple of days ago concerning my arrival?" Luke asked. The man answered that they did, and led him to the elevators on the opposite side of the lobby. On the way, the man who revealed himself as the aide to the prime minister, discussed the Argothian foreign policy:  
  
"The laws say that no order is to be turned down, but we will defend ourselves if necessary. There was one order a long time ago that we did turn down though. I believe it was under the leadership of Prime Minister Damayu III that we did that."  
  
"And what was that order?" Luke inquired.  
  
"For the supporting Starfleet and sub-orbital aircraft for a droid army belonging to the Commerce Guilds of the Old Republic," the aide replied as if it wouldn't matter that much to Luke even if that was the kind of information he was looking for.  
  
"Besides that order, did you receive any other large orders during the Clone Wars?" Luke asked trying to hide his excitement. They reached the elevators, and were bound for the 5007th floor, the non-restricted records.  
  
"If I have successfully memorized the records, I believe there was one other, however it's encrypted and under high security. You need the personal permission of the Prime Minister to view them." The aide said as if he wasn't supposed to. It appeared Luke had found just the information he was looking for, he just needed to access those other files. 


End file.
